September 2024 - Zone Nine Nihilation - Week 3 + 4

Gameplay Updates:

Environment Updates:

• Zombie Crawler Adjustments: Refined the mesh alignment for Crawler zombies, ensuring they now interact correctly with the ground, eliminating the floating issue. Updates were also made to Crawler stats, improving their integration into the game.

• Wilder (Bear) Behavior: The bear's attack hitbox was adjusted to match more accurately with attack animations, resulting in more precise combat interactions. The bear’s animation when shot has been smoothed, with improved rotation and movement speed matching.

• Balanced Enemy Stats: Zombie and bear stats have been balanced to ensure a fair yet challenging gameplay experience. Crawler zombies, being the weakest, now reward the fewest points when defeated. In contrast, the bear presents a much tougher challenge, requiring teamwork to bring down. Successfully defeating the bear will reward players with significantly higher points, reflecting the difficulty of the encounter.

User Interface and Accessibility:

• UX Update: Updates to how items drop into inventory were implemented for smoother and more visually appealing interactions.

• Enhanced Visuals: Updated inventory to display clearer and more accessible icons, enhancing the player’s ability to manage resources quickly and efficiently.

• Inventory Interactions: Several adjustments were made to improve the user experience, including changing durability bar colors and updating inventory icons from diagonal to horizontal, ensuring they fit better with the quickbar layout. These changes make managing equipment more intuitive during fast-paced combat scenarios.

System and Configuration Updates:

• System Optimizations: Multiple system enhancements, including refined shaders, faster data asset loading, and lighting optimizations, improved gameplay smoothness and reduced load times.

• Character Movement and Animation Fixes: Various adjustments were made to character movement, including smoother animations, particularly in matching attack motions with movement speed for both zombies and bears.

• Loot Mechanics: Introduced a new loot box mechanism that allows for random item spawns, including weapons, water, apples, enhancing gameplay unpredictability. Upon player death, a backpack containing all the player's inventory will be dropped instead of the items being scattered.

Additional Updates:

• Miscellaneous Fixes: Various bug fixes were implemented, including addressing gameplay crashes, animation mismatches, and inventory replication issues. Character movement was improved to create a more natural flow in combat.